Hot Rods Vertical Slant Six?

Is it possible to rotate a slant six so it sits vertically? I know it's a good engine but I think it looks goofy. Slam if you may. So is it possible?

 

Yes, it's possible. Here is one that's vertical.

 

Yeah, why is it slanted anyway?

Any why don't we have earlids?

 

It makes slightly more horsepower when on an angle...the pistons don't have to defy gravity quite as much. J/k of course.

 

Actually it's a "SLANTED" Slant Six and I know because that one's mine.

 

Ha ha....it's not as tall when you lean it over, making for a lower hood line.

 

Very sweet set up and car .

 

It also allowed them to put the water pump to the side to shorten the length and allowed for longer intake runners.

 

Rocky is correct, it was to allow a lower hood line


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Yep, that was the original idea. It got the hood on those Valiants a lot lower than they would have been otherwise. Only other thing I remember about them is that it is a pain in the ass to do a tune up on one if your hands aren't that agile. Everything is down under there in all the grease and oil those things always seem to leak.

 

Congrats on a great looking car and great that you did something different. Any major problems to set it up that way?
Great fan of the slant six as I've had my 62 Valiant for 55 years.

 

Boat people really laid it over with a marine Space Saver slant 6

 

I saw an aluminum slant 6 version in some old weird looking Dodge that was sitting in a farm field in central Michigan...never new they made an aluminum version...could have been a popular race engine at the drags maybe...I remember some guys putting on Holley 4 barrels and headers with the Valiants, they had an ugly bunch of fun.

 

This guy slanted a 427 SOHC in a T, so I guess anything's possible...

 

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Sorry, but history of the engine tells us a performance version would have been a bigger failure than the stock one.
The aluminum slant was first cast in '61, but it soon became evident that it was a failure due to the open deck design. (There wasn't a deck, but the perimeter of the block, and six, free-standing cylinders with iron liners.) With the head bolts threading into aluminum holes, it wasn't long before the bolt torque loosened up, and blown head gaskets were the result. (This made worse by only about 3/8" sealing area at the top of the cylinders.) I can't help but wonder how many of them were cooked to death by ignorant drivers.
Being as it was still lower cost to cast them out of iron, rather than the die-casting method for aluminum, the alloy block was dropped in '62, and was never seen again. (A few left over blocks did make it into '62 production.)
FWIW, I do have a bare alloy block that I use as a conversation piece and for setup purposes. (It only weighs in a 78 pounds.)

As to the 4-barrels and headers, Chrysler did exactly that in '61 & '62, for the compact NASCAR class. It was called the hyper-pak, and consisted of a dealer installed, long-runner 4V intake and carb, true split exhaust manifold, and a healthier cam and lifter package. The average buyer could order one, but it arrived at the dealership in the trunk, where the mechanics installed it. I could be wrong, but it voided your warranty, too.

Roger

 

Now, as to standing a slant vertically, I see three obvious obstacles. The slant oil pan has a sump to match the 30* tilt, thus your oil scavenging by the pickup will be effected. You might be able to compensate with running a "extra" quart.
The intake also matches the engine's 30* tilt, so the carb would not sit level. You would have to fabricate some type of spacer to level out the carb for proper operation. If you're running an auto trans, you'd also have to fabricate kickdown linkage for correct trans shift point operation.

OH, HELL! The trans also matches the 30* tilt. That's really going to play havoc with running an auto, as there's no way to feed the trans fluid to the pickup without serious pan mods and fabrication. On top of that, you'll have to fab a special trans crossmember for the tailshaft mount, and most likely run some type of cable shifter. It'll need something different for a dipstick tube, too.

You're opening up a real can of worms here, so it may be best to just leave it as is.

Just my nickel's worth.....Roger

 

If I remember correctly (questionable) some people adapted turbos from Corvair Monza Spyders or Olds F-85 Jet fire rather successfully to the slant six

 

Pshaw!! No hill for a climber.......just a little ol’ fashioned fabrication is all it’ll take

Ray

 

The lotus 2 liter four was half of a 4 liter V8. So it, like the Pontiac Tempest engine, leaned at 45 degrees in Lotus and Jensen-Healey cars. I put one in my roadster and stood it straight up. Needed to modify the cast aluminum pan and oil pickup as well as the oil drain back from the cam covers. I was adapting a blow shield from a SBF anyway. So that was not a concern. It ran fine. G/GR record at El Mirage and Bonneville. Taking the record from Doc Jefferies roadster with a Ford Sierra (Cosworth BDP) powered entry. Pissed him off.

 

^^^^^^^

 

I always thought that's what made them unique, why not just take the easy way out and use a chevy or ford straight 6 then you can be just like everybody else?

 

A friend of mine did race one fairly successfully in the mid 60's. The block didn't weigh much at all and after they had it at the machine shop down the street from the dealership where Jim worked another guy threw it over his shoulder and carried it up the street to the dealer's shop. They came back laughing because of people doing the double take of him carrying a six cylinder block over his shoulder.

I'd agree that the main issue of standing one up straight would be the oil sump and pickup thing. The other is going to be fabbing an intake that will get the carb level or going to FI.

 

No reason you couldn't run one vertical. You would have to modify the oil pan and pickup and make a new intake or at least put an angled spacer under the carb.

This leaves out the question of transmissions. But, since this would obviously be a custom installation in something other than a Chrysler built car we will leave that open. But, a maunal trans would be easiest. An automatic would probably work with a modified pan and oil pickup.

 

There was one that ran t Bonneville in a 53 Studebaker in fuel alt. Stood up straight. Had home made fuel injection without throttle plates. Guy told me it ran good when it was not on fire. Had the 3 liter class record for a while. Jim Tone must remember it. If it suites your needs, there is absolutely no reason for not tipping it up straight.

 

My thought on the transmission is to make a plate that bolts to the block and drill a second set of holes for the bell housing with that set 'clocked' to level the trans. Not sure if, or how, that might affect starter mounting.

Ray

 

Yeah, a bit of a nuisance. But it wasn't the worst job to just pull the distributor to install points, condenser, cap and rotor, check that the advance was working properly and make sure the plastic distributor gear wasn't showing signs of wear. Then when you got done you could walk over to the other side of the engine and admire how easy it was to get at the water pump, starter and p/s pump.

 

Might be easier to rotate the transmission where it bolts the the bellhousing. As long as it is a stick shift car. But if it's a Hot Rod, that is a given. Right?

 

^^^^^^^ uuuhhh......sure.....of course...

Ray

 

I remember it was entered under Clifford Clark Injectors. Neil Thompson also had one in his Studebaker comp coupe. At one time Neil had every record comp coupe from E thru A. this was when it was a fuel class only..Ahh the good old days

 

Is it actually the transmission bell that is rotated, or is it the bolt pattern on the back of the block that is? ie, the cylinders are slanted but the bolt pattern is "straight up".